Today in History (1937): Their Eyes Were Watching God published

First posted 11/11/2025.

Their Eyes Were Watching God Zora Neal Hurston

First Publication: September 18, 1937 Category: psychological fiction Sales: ?

Accolades:

About the Book: While now “regarded as a masterwork” LC “in both African-American literature and women’s literature.” WKTheir Eyes Were Watching God wasn’t a success upon its initial publication in 1937. The book was “out of print for almost thirty years due largely to initial audiences’ rejection of its strong black female protagonist.” AZ African American critics said it was “facile and simplistic, in part because its characters spoke in dialect.” LC However, in 1975 author Alice Walker wrote an essay entitled “Looking for Zora” in Ms. magazine that “led to a critical reevaluation of the book.” LC Since the book’s reissue in 1978, is has “become perhaps the most widely read and highly acclaimed novel in the canon of African-American literature” AZ and is “considered to have paved the way for younger black writers such as Alice Walker and Toni Morrison.” LC “The novel narrates main character Janie Crawford’s ‘ripening from a vibrant, but voiceless, teenage girl into a woman with her finger on the trigger of her own destiny.’ As a young woman, who is fair-skinned with long hair, she expects more out of life, but comes to realize that people must learn about life ‘fuh theyselves’ (for themselves), just as people can only go to God for themselves. Set in central and southern Florida in the early 20th century.” WK It “brings to life a Southern love story with the wit and pathos found only in the writing of Zora Neale Hurston.” AZ British novelist Zadie Smith called it “a deeply soulful novel that comprehends love and cruelty, and separates the big people from the small of heart, without ever losing sympathy for those unfortunates who don’t know how to live properly.” AZ Resources and Related Links: AZ Amazon LC Library of Congress (2012). “Books That Shaped America” WK Wikipedia

Today in History (1908): Anne of Green Gables published

First posted 11/11/2025.

Anne of Green Gables L.M. Montgomery

First Publication: June 13, 1908 Category: childen’s novel Sales: 50 million

Accolades (click on badges to see full lists):

About the Book: This “novel has led generations of children to laugh and cry – but mostly laugh – long with this beloved story’s vivacious heroine.” AZ This “is a cherished tale of the importance of family and community.” BN “Brother and sister Marilla and Matthew Cuthbert look forward to meeting the young orphan boy whom they hope to give a good life to at…Green Gables,” BN “a tranquil farm on Canada’s Prince Edward Island.” AZ Instead they are accidentally sent “a redheaded chatterbox named Anne. The spirited, precocious 11-year-old orphan finds ‘scope for imagination’ everywhere she looks.” AZ The Cuthberts “welcome the imaginative girl with loving arms. Under their care and through the friendships she forges at school, Anne enjoys adventures and experiences that teach her how to be loving and caring in return.” BN She “builds a world of enchantment around Green Gables and its surrounding woodlands, lakes, and valleys. Thanks to the freckle-faced girl’s imaginative musings, the rustic region’s natural wonders blossom into a fairyland of endless romance. Anne’s inspired prattle, goodwill, and joie de vivre win her a warm circle of friends, just as they have won the hearts of readers around the world.” AZ Resources and Related Links: AZ Amazon BN Barnes & Noble

In July 2018, I became the organizer of the Classic Novels Book Club. Check out the Book Club tab here or Meetup for more information. This is our September 2024 book.

Leo Tolstoy War and Peace

First posted 6/10/2020; updated 7/5/2020.

War and Peace Leo Tolstoy

First Publication: 1869 Category: historical novel Sales: 36 million

Accolades:

About the Book: “The most famous – and perhaps greatest – novel of all time,” BN War and Peace is “both an intimate study of individual passions and an epic history of Russia and its people.” BN The novel is “noted for its mastery of realistic detail and variety of psychological analysis” LN as it details “the metamorphosis of five families, some peasant, some aristocratic” AZ struggling for survival during Napoleon’s invasion of Russia.” BN “The theme of war, however, is subordinate to the story of family existence, which involves Tolstoy’s optimistic belief in the life-asserting pattern of human existence.” LN “Each individual is immersed in experiences and conversations elucidating Tolstoy’s themes of self-sacrifice and self-indulgence, anguish and ecstasy, diplomacy and deception, and religion and perdition. The complexities of character and plot are sometimes enigmatic, and names are often exhausting to recollect, but the genius of this book is everlasting.” AZ The impressive dialog sparkles with humor and wit, and the vivid scenes of battle are riveting.” AZ “The novel also sets forth a theory of history, concluding that there is a minimum of free choice; all is ruled by an inexorable historical determinism.” LN “War and Peace is nothing more or less than a complete portrait of human existence.” BN The book is well known for its length. “Even the author said it couldn't be described as a novel. But the characters of Andrei, Pierre and Natasha – and the tragic and unexpected way their lives intersect – grip you for all 1,400 pages.” TG Resources and Related Links: AZ Amazon (review from Library Journal by Barbara Mann) BN Barnes & Noble LN The Literature Network TG Telegraph: The Perfect Library

Chinua Achebe Things Fall Apart

First posted 6/12/2020; last updated 7/5/2020.

Things Fall Apart Chinua Achebe

First Publication: 1958 Category: poetic fiction/children’s novel Sales: 20 million

Accolades:

About the Book: “Things Fall Apart is the first of three novels in Chinua Achebe’s critically acclaimed African Trilogy.” AZ “Its story chronicles pre-colonial life in the south-eastern part of Nigeria and the arrival of the Europeans during the late nineteenth century.” WK “The title of the novel was borrowed from W. B. Yeats’ 1919 poem ‘The Second Coming.’” WK The story is “told through the fictional experiences of Okonkwo, a wealthy and fearless Igbo warrior” AZ “and local wrestling champion in the fictional Nigerian clan of Umuofia.” WK “The work is split into three parts, with the first describing his family, personal history, and the customs and society of the Igbo, and the second and third sections introducing the influence of British colonialism and Christian missionaries on the Igbo community.” WK Things Fall Apart explores one man’s futile resistance to the devaluing of his Igbo traditions by British political andreligious forces and his despair as his community capitulates to the powerful new order.” AZ The book “provides one of the most illuminating and permanent monuments to African experience. Achebe does not only capture life in a pre-colonial African village, he conveys the tragedy of the loss of that world while broadening our understanding of our contemporary realities.” AZ The book has been translated into 57 languages AZ and “is a staple book in schools throughout Africa and is widely read and studied in English-speaking countries around the world.” WZ Resources and Related Links: AZ Amazon WK Wikipedia

Little Women: Yet Another Movie Version Released

Last updated 7/6/2020.

Little Women Louisa May Alcott

First Publication: 1868 Category: coming-of-age novel Sales: 1 million

Accolades:

About the Book: “Generations of readers young and old, male and female, have fallen in love with the March sisters,” BN “united in their devotion to each other and their struggles to survive in New England during the Civil War.” BN “Here are talented tomboy and author-to-be Jo, tragically frail Beth, beautiful Meg, and romantic, spoiled Amy.” BN Although Little Women is set in a very particular place and time in American history, the characters and their relationships have touched generations of readers and still are beloved.” LC “Far from being the ‘girl’s book’ her publisher requested, it explores such timeless themes as love and death, war and peace, the conflict between personal ambition and family responsibilities, and the clash of cultures between Europe and America.” BN “The novel is a classic coming of age story which follows the development of the young women into adulthood.” AZ “Central to the theme of the novel is the issue of overcoming one’s character flaws. For Meg it is vanity; Jo, temper; Beth, shyness; and Amy, selfishness. Through the various activities of the four sisters told throughout the novel lessons are learned of the consequences of these particular flaws.” AZ “The story begins to unfold during Christmastime. With their father away at war, the family must endure great poverty induced hardship, often times going hungry.” AZ “It is no secret that Alcott based Little Women on her own early life. While her father, the freethinking reformer and abolitionist Bronson Alcott, hobnobbed with such eminent male authors as Emerson, Thoreau, and Hawthorne, Louisa supported herself and her sisters with ‘woman’s work,’ including sewing, doing laundry, and acting as a domestic servant. But she soon discovered she could make more money writing.” BN “Little Women brought her lasting fame and fortune.” BN “This first edition…was published in 1868 when Louisa was thirty-five years old. Based on her own experiences growing up as a young woman with three sisters, and illustrated by her youngest sister, May, the novel was an instant success, selling more than 2,000 copies immediately. Several sequels were published, including Little Men (1871) and Jo’s Boys (1886).” LC The book has been adapted seven times for film, first in 1917 and most recently a 2019 version directed by Greta Gerwig. It starred Saoirse Ronan as Jo, Emma Watson as Meg, Florence Pugh as Amy, and Eliza Scanlen as Beth. The cast also included Meryl Streep, Laura Dern, Timothée Chalamet, and Chris Cooper. Some critics called it “the definitive adaptation.” WK Resources and Related Links: AZ Amazon BN Barnes & Noble LC Library of Congress (2012). “Books That Shaped America” SparkNotes (study guide) Wikipedia

In July 2018, I became the organizer of the Classic Novels Book Club. Check out the Book Club tab here or Meetup for more information. This is our March 2020 book.